Truly disturbing and cringe worthy. De Niro has never been better and Scorsese has never been so uncompromising. Absolutely brilliant and ahead of its time. A scathing attack on the mediocrity of TV. In fact, Scorsese mimics the dull saturated colors and framing of 80’s television. De Niro plays a character so obsessed with becoming famous, that he doesn’t seem deterred by the fact that he has no talent. Sound familiar? Worst of all, audiences ultimately like him because he’s on TV, not because he’s funny. It’s as if Scorsese was predicting where we would be heading in the upcoming decades. By the end, it’s only real for our protagonist until he’s seen it on TV. He’s so delusional that he can’t tell the difference between reality and his fantasies. The illusion takes precedent.